I had to exit the game, launch the GFW client, and log in from there to make it work.
My take: RTSs are my favorite genre of PC games, and this one does not disappoint. In spite of the Disney graphics, the gameplay is classic AoE and a heckuva lot of fun. I like the system of upgrading the main city and your units with bling you find on quests. It makes a lot of sense in this context to substitute the city and units for the paper doll hero model usually used in games of this type or in RPGs. The tech tree is great, and I like the way it introduces new techs for you to use, making the game gradually more complex as you get further into it.
What I don't like is the "F2P" model. At the very least, I was expecting microtransactions or something. Seriously, $20 for 1 civ? $99 for 6 months? More expensive than WoW? Only two civs to start with (Greece, Egypt) with two more on the way (Celts, Persia)? Why wasn't the game shipped in a finished state? And where in the hell are Rome or Carthage, my two favorite ancient civs?
This game gives me hope for AoE4, but only if it is a standalone, finished and complete, buy for $50 game with an engaging SP campaign, with multiplayer integration.
